The invention relates to a cup-holding tray for carrying beverage cups, which contains sockets for holding the beverage cups.
The present invention relates to a carry tray for beverage cups or beverage cups and food. The tray is designed to securely hold individual beverage cups of a variety of shapes and sizes. Molded into the tray is at least one cup-holding socket for holding beverage cups. The tray is shaped to permit empty trays to be nested, one within another, to form a convenient and compact stack (xe2x80x9ccubexe2x80x9d) for shipment and storage prior to use.
Molded cup-holding trays are particularly suitable for holding beverage cups that are used in fast-food restaurants. Previous trays for this purpose typically have a number of cup-holding sockets in the tray and may have an additional space provided for holding a bag of food or the like. The cup-holding sockets are intended to securely hold filled beverage cups in an upright position. Certain styles of trays allow for several beverage cups to be carried at once. Examples of existing cup holders of this general type are disclosed in Crabtree, U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,317; Theobald, U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,915; Vellieux, U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,008; and Vigue, U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,065.
A recent trend in the fast-food restaurant industry is the use of very large beverage cup sizes. These cups hold up to, for example, 32 ounces or even 44 ounces of liquid. Therefore, there is a demand for cup-holding tray capable of carrying a these 32-44 oz. cups, as well as the smaller sizes.
Another type of beverage cup that recently became popular has a xe2x80x9csteppedxe2x80x9d structure where the bottom portion of the cup is smaller in diameter than the top portion of the cup. The lower portion of the cup has a diameter which fits into automobile cup-holders, while the top portion of the cup is substantially larger in diameter to allow the cup to hold more beverage. These xe2x80x9csteppedxe2x80x9d cups require the use of a cup-holding tray that can securely hold the cups, because these cups tend to be more top-heavy than conventional cups.
Designers of cup-holding trays face several challenges in creating a cup-holding tray capable of carrying large cups, stepped cups, and small cups in a secure and stable manner. These concerns are particularly important when the tray is intended to be used in the fast-food business, where the trays are passed out from carry-out windows or carried through sporting arenas.
For example, the cup-holding tray must be strong enough to carry up to several filled cups at a time without having the tray collapse from the weight of the filled cups. The strength of the cup-holding tray is generally determined from the construction material and the shape of the tray. Typically, trays of this type are made from pulp fiber, and shaped to finished form by molding. For strength reinforcement, trays of this type are molded with a plurality of strengthening ribs, peripheral flanges, and other structural features.
In addition, the cup-holding tray must be able to securely hold the inserted beverage cups, so that they do not tip over or fall out of the cup-holding socket when the tray is loaded and handled. The tray must also securely hold the filled beverage cups as the tray is carried.
In addition to these general concerns, a cup-holding tray should be capable of securely holding filled beverage cups within a wide range of cup sizes. For example, a cup-holding tray specifically sized for the diameter of a 32 oz. cup can be too large to securely hold smaller cup sizes.
One solution to the need for cup holding trays which securely hold both large and small cup sizes is to provide a cup-holding socket with stabilizing walls that extend both downwardly and inwardly into the cup-holding socket. The stabilizing walls are located inward of the walls of the cup-holding socket. DuBois et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,619, disclose a cup-holding socket having three xe2x80x9cwebsxe2x80x9d or stabilizing walls that extend inwardly into the cup-holding socket. These stabilizing walls yield when a cup is inserted into the cup-holding socket. The fit between the stabilizing walls and the cup sides allows for the cup-holding socket to securely hold the cup. However, in the cup holding trays disclosed in DuBois et al., when a small cup is inserted into the cup-holding socket, the stabilizing walls of the cup-holding socket contact the sides of a small cup relatively near the bottom of the cup. Another prior art example of a tray having stabilizing walls in the cup-holding socket is U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,008 to Vellieux.
In the art of cup-holding trays, it is also desirable to minimize the tray""s overall size to allow for the trays to be easily passed through typical drive-through window openings. This is particularly challenging in a carrier for four cups. Vigue, U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,065 (Mar. 1992), discloses that to use food trays in drive-thru windows commonly found in fast food restaurants, the overall width of the 4-cup trays should be smaller than about 10.5 to 11.5 inches. Smaller trays weigh less and use less materials to manufacture, which proportionately reduces the overall cost of the trays. Reducing the tray""s dimensions also reduces the size and weight of the tray xe2x80x9ccubexe2x80x9d, which allows for more efficient production, shipping and storage of the trays.
The object of this invention is to provide a cup-holding tray that is capable of more securely and stably holding cups having different shapes and sizes, i.e., from small 8 oz. cups to some styles of large 44 oz. cups, without significantly increasing the overall height, length, and width dimensions of the cup-holding tray as compared to existing trays. Thus, for example, a filled 4-cup tray can be easily passed through fast-food restaurant windows due to the compact size, yet the tray is capable of securely holding cups of different sizes, including very large 44 oz. cup sizes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a compact cup-holding tray that is capable of more securely holding various sizes and configurations of beverage cups.
A further object of the invention is to accomplish these objectives in a 4-cup carrier.
A still further object of the invention is to accomplish these objectives in a 4-cup carrier having four cup-carrying sockets of substantially the same size.
In accordance with the invention, the aforementioned objectives are obtained by providing a cup-holding tray having at least one cup-holding socket for holding a range of beverage cup shapes and sizes. The cup-holding socket has at least two stabilizing shoulders spaced around the cup-holding socket. A preferred embodiment of the cup-holding socket has three stabilizing shoulders. The cup-holding socket has a socket floor, and the stabilizing shoulders of the cup-holding socket are positioned at a distance above the socket floor, substantially at the top level of the tray. Each stabilizing shoulder is provided with an inwardly-sloping stabilizing wall that extends downwardly from the stabilizing shoulder into the socket. The lowermost and innermost points of the stabilizing walls comprise contact points between the stabilizing wall and a cup. A feature of the invention is that the depth of the socket floor is increased relative to the contact points, as compared to prior art trays, such that the cup-holding socket has improved cup-holding ability and is more resistant to tipping than prior designs.
Optionally associated with the socket floor are reinforcing ribs. The reinforcing ribs have a horizontal top surface and a substantially vertical side surface. The top surface is elevated slightly above the socket floor. The bottom of a beverage cup inserted into the socket rests upon a cup-contacting surface. When no reinforcing ribs are present, the cup-contacting surface is the socket floor. When reinforcing ribs are present on the socket floor, an inserted cup sits on the upper horizontal surface of the reinforcing ribs. A cup with a lower rim below the cup bottom can rest on the socket floor if the reinforcing ribs are short.
The stabilizing walls are yieldable so that the stabilizing walls are deflected outwardly by a cup being inserted into the cup-holding socket. Each stabilizing wall extends down into the socket to a distance above the socket floor, so that an opening exists between the bottom edge of the stabilizing wall and the cup-contacting surface. In one embodiment of the invention, a slot vertically bisects the stabilizing wall, so that the opening and the slot together form an inverted xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d shape.
Another object of the invention is that, when the tray is a 4-cup carrier, the tray should not exceed about 9.0 inches in either length or width, since fast food establishments have come to prefer this size. In a preferred embodiment, the top plan view of a 4-cup carrier tray is square and the tray is about 8.75 inches in length and width, and about 2.05 inches in total depth, and the sockets are all substantially the same size.
In accordance with the invention, the cup-holding sockets on a tray of the above dimensions are effectively deepened in relation to the height of the tray. This can be defined as follows: the ratio of the distance from the cup-contacting surface to the contact point on the stabilizing wall to the distance from the cup-contacting surface to the stabilizing shoulder is between 0.4 and 0.5. In a currently most-preferred embodiment, that ratio is about 0.42.
Another feature of the invention is that a circle drawn tangent to the contact points of a cup-holding socket having three stabilizing walls in the cup-holding socket should be greater than 1.9 inches in diameter, preferably about 2.0 inches in diameter. This has been found to improve the cup-holding function of the sockets.